


Eighteen going on eighteen

by TheAverageOne11



Series: Zalex Week 2k20 [5]
Category: 13 Reasons Why (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Birthday, First Kiss, Kissing in the Rain, Light Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, Rain, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, zalexweek2k20
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:21:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25199932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAverageOne11/pseuds/TheAverageOne11
Summary: Soulmates AU - You get the name of your soulmate written on your wrist as soon as you turn 18. However, things don't go smoothly for Zach and Alex.
Relationships: Charlie St. George & Alex Standall, Zach Dempsey & Alex Standall, Zach Dempsey/Alex Standall
Series: Zalex Week 2k20 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1816006
Comments: 6
Kudos: 50
Collections: Zalex Week 2k20





	1. Eighteen

**Author's Note:**

> Second story for Day 3 - Soulmates even though we're on Day 6 now. There was no way I was going to drop this.  
> Hope y'all enjoy it as much as the first Soulmates one :)

_They looked at each other, his piercing blue eyes meeting his own dark brown orbs, both of their wrists exposed as rain poured all around them. Alex held out both of his hands then, both of his palms exposed to catch the drops of rain, in an open invitation for him to lace their fingers together. Zach did, pulling the other boy closer in the process, looking at their intertwined hands in bewilderment for just a brief moment, before their eyes met again. It felt like something right out of a romance movie. Alex gave him a bright, joyful smile and he couldn't help but do the same before he leaned in slightly. He was met halfway because he didn't bend his neck nearly as much as he should have, feeling another pair of lips brush against his own. He smiled into the kiss, knowing that the other boy was on his toes so he could reach him._

_BEEP BEEP BEEP_

Zach opened his eyes slowly, blinking rapidly in sleepy confusion. He groaned at the sound of his alarm, desperately pressing at his phone over his desk, hoping to accidentally find the button to turn it off. He did. He sighed, pulling the blanket tightly around him, trying desperately to go back to sleep. He blushed at the faint memory of his dream, making sure he doesn't forget about it. He loved that dream.

Lazily, he threw the blankets back and steadied himself up on one hand. He opened up his phone and saw the time. _6:01 am._ Then, his eyes caught the date. _Friday, March 2nd 2018._ He almost gasped as he immediately straightened himself up, sitting down on the bed and looking at his phone, his memories finally catching up with him.

Today was his birthday, which means he finally turned eighteen. Turning eighteen was a big deal for a lot of reasons, but to Zach, the most important one was that he'd finally know the name of his soulmate; unless his soulmate is either dead or under eighteen at the time of Zach's birthday. He was born at about 4:05 am on March 2nd 2000, which meant that he would have had to wait until 4 am to get his soulmate tattoo, which of course Zach didn't do considering he has school in the morning. Which means...

Zach took a deep breath. It was ether there, or it wasn't and all he'd have to do, was roll up his sleeve to know. He gulped, placing his hand on his left sleeve before pulling it downwards.

_Nothing..._

He then turned his attention to his right sleeve. It was all or nothing. He close his eyes as he rolled it back, letting out a sharp breath before opening his eyes again.

_Nothing..._

But Zach wasn't disappointed, in fact, he smiled. Not having the name of his soulmate tattoo'd on his wrist was a good sign. It meant that there was still a chance that a certain boy he knew would be his soulmate, and all he'd have to do was wait a couple of weeks for him to turn eighteen to find out. He smiled, let himself fall back down onto his bed and allow his thoughts to wonder back to the dream he was having. The most perfect dream.

* * *

_BEEP BEEP BEEP_

Today's the day.

Zach jolted up from his bed, having just been woken up by his alarm. He grabbed his phone from his nightstand and looked at the time. _6:00._ Zach smiled as he turned his phone off and plumped down on the bed again. In less than eighteen hours, the date will be March 15th, 2018, which means Alex would turn eighteen.

Zach jumped off the bed again happily, all but running to the bathroom to get ready for the day. Alex was a very unique case, being born on exactly 00:00. Zach had already planned this day ahead. He'd plan a small little party for Alex and they would all wait for the clock to go past midnight and celebrate his birthday. Zach smiled, imagining Alex as his soulmate. All he'd have to do, is just wait until the clock passes midnight and a lifelong tattoo will burn into the skin of their wrists, connecting them forever.

After taking an energetic shower, singing for the first time in a long time in a carefree bliss, Zach put on his favorite dark jeans, a plain grey sweater and his blue varsity jacket and rushed downstairs. He tiptoed down the steps and entered the dining room, where May was sitting reading a book for school and waiting for their mom to put breakfast on the table.

"Good Morning! He said happily, giving May a kiss on her forehead and hugging his mom from behind as she cooked some eggs on the stove.

"Morning, Zachy!" said May cheerfully. 

"Morning. Someone's in a very good mood." said Karen with a smile, keeping her attention on the eggs.

"Pretty good for someone without a soulmate." teased May playfully, her hands on her chin as he looked at Zach.

"May Dempsey! How dare you say such things?! He is a Dempsey, whoever his soulmate is wouldn't die that easily. Zachary just has to wait for them to turn eighteen." said Karen, a stern and unhappy look on her face of all of a sudden as she put fried eggs in their plates. But May just chuckled.

"Yeah..." Zach agreed mindlessly.

"Oh for god's sake." Karen scoffed, looking at her son's stargazed expression while taking a sip of her tea, leaning with her back pressed on the counter. "Soulmates are still overly romanticized if you ask me. It's practically an arranged marriage with someone who happens to be perfect for you." She said, taking another sip, before her face suddenly turned sad. "And then they die and take a part of you with them. I take it back, maybe you'd be happier if your soulmate was already dead." She sighed, placing her tea on the counter and moving out of the dining room, not even glancing at Zach and May.

It's almost been an entire year since Zach's dad had passed away. It was easily one of the lowest points of his life, but he had to stay strong, for May. His mother looked fine on the outside, but Zach knew that it was eating away at her too. She changed after his dad died. She had always been a little strict and protective of Zach, but after that she only got worse.

Zach looked at May, who looked very miserable now. She started playing with her food, looking at it rather dully.

"Hey, eat up! You have an exam today. Trust me, going on an empty stomach never works out." Zach told her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. He avoided mentioning their dad because May was still very sensitive about it. She smiled faintly, finally starting to eat.

"You should invite Alex over today!" said May in-between bites, grinning at him knowingly. Zach's heart skipped a beat.

"W-What?" He asked nervously. But May just chuckled.

"For his birthday silly! I heard you talking to Jessica yesterday about a surprise party. You should do it here." May explained, looking at him encouragingly.

"Y-yeah I was thinking about inviting some friends over. A more 'low-key' party for a change." Zach said, trying to take the focus away from Alex but wincing at the memory of last's year's party. Thankfully his mother wasn't here to-

"Zachary Shan-Yung Dempsey! What's this about a party?" His mom yelled as she walked in, stopping to look at him.

"Oh come on, mom! It's literally like 10 people! I promise it will be nothing like last year!" He complained. His mom narrowed her eyes, not looking very convinced after Bryce had took the entire school to celebrate the end of school at Zach's the previous year. "I swear! It's just for Alex's birthday!" He added. She looked at him disapprovingly then.

"Alex? Alex Standall? That little hooligan with the dyed hair and the piercings?" His mother spat, gesturing with her hands towards her hair.

"Yes-No, he's not a 'hooligan' mom. And he doesn't even have his piercing anymore and his hair is it's natural color now." argued Zach.

"Oh? Well thank goodness for that. He might actually look presentable now. You can tell him he's welcome into the house from now on." Karen said, giving a half-smile and looking genuinely relieved.

"Mom... He looked fine even with the piercings and the blonde hair. He's really sweet I promise." said Zach, a hopeful look in his eyes.

"Very well, you can have your little party, even though it is a Thursday. It just so happens that I will be visiting a friend tonight. But when I come back, if I see more than ten, I will throw everyone out myself, you included." She said coldly, pointing right at him with her index finger. Zach gulped and nodded nervously, but happy to have convinced his mom. Still, he wouldn't put it past his mother to actually do good on her threats, but May just chuckled next to him.

By the time his friends had arrived at his house, Zach wasn't sure how he'd made it through the day. He could barely concentrate in school, tapping his feet so much that he managed to annoy the English teacher, who was usually quite calm. But he was too ecstatic to really care. He felt like nothing could take him off his high and nothing did.

Clay, Tony, Charlie, Tyler and Justin all came in to his house together, piling a bunch of presents for Alex onto Zach. It was a few minutes later when Alex and Jessica finally arrived. He had told Jessica not to tell him that they were going to a surprise birthday party, but based on Alex's expression, he knew. But Zach supposes it was quite obvious either way.

"Hi." said Alex, entering through the door with a nervous smile. "Happy Belated Birthday!" He held out a beautifully wrapped present, which didn't look like a box based on the shape and the curvature on one end. Jessica just smiled at them and moved past them.

"You really shouldn't have... It's your birthday, besides I have enough money to buy anything I want." Zach said, looking at the present curiously.

"That's not the point of birthday presents and you know it, Dempsey. I wanted to give it to you on your birthday a couple of weeks ago but it wasn't delivered until a few days ago. Open it." Zach looked at Alex warmly, a bright smile forming on his face as he unwrapped it carefully. As the wrapping paper fell on the floor, it revealed a big, heavy and expensive-looking book with a hard cover.

He glanced up at Alex briefly in question, before looking back at the book and flipping it over to look at the front. 'An Introduction and Advanced Guide to Marine Biology'. He froze, looking at the book in utter bewilderment. His mom, May and Alex were the only people who knew he secretly wanted to study marine biology, but none of them had ever adamantly supported it before.

"Alex, I - Thank you so much!" He said, breaking into a soft laugh as he wrapped his arms around the other boy, pulling him into his embrace. Alex was shy against his touch, hesitantly putting his arms around Zach. The taller boy felt eyes on them, and he turned around to find Charlie staring right at them, his lips curling into a sad smile. _That's weird._

The night had gone smoothly after that. Zach had given Alex his present, which was a brand new guitar because Alex's old one got smashed. Mostly they just drank and talked while they all lay together on the large sofas in the living room, watching Annabelle. May came to join them, immediately finding her way next to Alex which put a smile on Zach's face. His mother had returned sometime after 10 pm, but she was nowhere to be seen luckily, though Zach had no doubt she was creeping somewhere just waiting for someone to break something.

All too quickly, or maybe not quickly enough, Alex found himself at the receiving end of a countdown as he sat in the dining room, his birthday cake right in front of him. It was _the_ countdown. The clock read 11:59 and everyone was excitedly following Jessica's lead as she counted down, all their voices connecting and working in unison.

 _"Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four! Three! TWOO! ONEEE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEX!"_ They all cheered loudly as Alex blew out of the candles with a smile. There was lots of hugging and laughing, each one of them moving to give Alex a hug. When Zach's turn came, he felt a sudden wave of tension between them, but neither one acknowledged it.

His mother appeared then, not nearly emotional enough to give Alex a hug but enough to wish him a happy birthday. She took the cake to cut everyone a slice, commenting how they would make a mess of it if she let them do it by themselves. Everyone laughed, but Alex seemed distracted as he took a step back, away from everyone else and staring at his covered wrists.

This is it.

Zach sighed, gazing at Alex as he looked at both of his wrists, not sure which wrist it would be. Alex gulped, giving one last glance at everyone around him, particularly at Zach, who was looking very attentively. He closed his eyes. rolling down the sleeve on his right hand. He opened them again and...

_Nothing!_

Zach let out the breath he'd been holding, suddenly starting to feel incredibly nervous. _What if Alex wasn't his soulmate?_ He was so happy that this thought hadn't even crossed his mind until now. He felt everyone's disappointment around him, but they were all still attentive, hoping Alex would have a name on the other wrist. Zach himself was unreadable, trying to keep his face neutral and calm. Alex took another deep breath and closed his eyes, rolling down his left sleeve exactly the same way before opening his eyes again. But Zach had already taken a look at the other wrist and his heart sank.

_Nothing..._

A string of cussing and disappointment erupted among his friends, immediately turning into a wave of 'next year's. But Zach could only stare in disbelief. _There was nothing... That... That couldn't be right._

He felt Alex's eyes on him then and he met them, though he couldn't bare to look at him. Alex looked completely heartbroken and disappointed, and he was looking right into Zach. _Had he been hoping for the same thing?_ Zach wondered what he looked like from the outside, because on the inside he was shattered. Who could be more compatible for him if not Alex? Zach just didn't find it possible. He gave Alex a faint smile and an encouraging nod to break the awkward stare, trying to say 'next year' before he left the room, not being able to look at Alex any longer, not if he wanted to prevent the tears from escaping his eyes.


	2. Eighteen Again

Alex and Charlie were sitting on Charlie's bed, Charlie's left hand on his cheek as he kissed him gently. He felt Charlie smile against his lips and used his right hand to wrap it around Alex's back. Charlie was happy, but was he? When Alex felt Charlie's tongue touch his lips, asking for entry, he flinched and pulled away. He opened his eyes just in time to catch Charlie's smile turning to confusion.

"S-Sorry. I just..." Alex trailed off, not really knowing what to say, before exhaling deeply and laying back on the bed.

"Hey, it's okay. We don't have to do anything if you don't want to." Charlie said with a reassuring smile.

"No, it's not that - I mean, it is, but..." Alex really wished he just hadn't spoken at all. Charlie's face practically screamed 'I'm worried about you'.

"Hey, what's wrong? Talk to me Alex. I thought you wanted this..." Charlie, gesturing with his hand between them.

"I do want it! I like you a lot, you're so nice and understanding." Alex saw a cute smile form on Charlie's lips, which made it all the more difficult to continue. "It's just that... I-"

"You like Zach more? You liked him first?" Charlie pushed. Alex's eyes widened, taken aback by the interruption. There was no malice in his tone, it was ever soft and understanding. That was not what Alex had intended on saying, but he found he couldn't really argue. He looked down at his legs, trying to find an appropriate response.

"Doesn't matter... He's not my soulmate." Alex replied coldly, still looking down. He inhaled sharply as he finally turned to look at Charlie, who still looked at him affectionately. "What if - What if you're not my soulmate either?" He found himself asking. Charlie's face finally dropped, before he took Alex's hand in his.

"Hey! That's not going to happen to you again." Charlie said, squeezing his hand.

"How can you be sure?" Charlie leaned back, not having a definitive answer.

"So what? We have two years to spend until we find out." Charlie said gently. "Plus, you don't have to date your soulmate. Plenty of people haven't married their soulmates."

"Yeah and they all struggle with depression afterwards." Alex added matter-of-factly. Charlie's grip on his hand loosened then, for a slight second, before he squeezed again.

"Well, we'll just have to wait for your tattoo to finally appear. How about that? We'll cross that bridge when we get it, for now, I just want you to promise that you'll allow yourself to be happy. E-Even if that means being with Zach, or neither of us. Zach would tell you the exact same thing." Charlie said, smiling at him and Alex felt the weight on his chest get lighter. He was right.

"Thank you." Alex said, leaning in and wrapping his arms around the other boy in a warm hug. Then, they heard thunder outside, immediately followed by the light tapping sound of rainfall. Almost simultaneously, Alex felt a strong burning sensation in his right wrist.

"Ow!" Alex yelled out, backing away from Charlie's warm embrace as he held onto his right wrist in pain.

"What's wrong?! Did I hurt you?" Charlie asked, his voice laced with panic before his eyes fell on Alex holding onto his right wrist. A wave of realization seemed to hit him then. He looked sad for a moment, but then his expression quickly turned bittersweet. The scorching pain on his wrist got lighter and lighter in a very short time, until, Alex felt nothing at all. He looked at Charlie questioningly, who just gave him a firm nod as he scooted to Alex's side.

Alex was just wearing a regular green shirt due to the summer heat, so all he would have to do is remove his left hand from his wrist and the name would be there. He gulped, closing his eyes nervously as he removed his left hand swiftly. However, he still didn't open his eyes and instead heard a gasp from the boy next to him.

"No, that can't be right... Can it?" He heard the other boy say and with that, finally opened his eyes. His jaw dropped as he saw the name written down. His heart started pumping faster and faster, until he felt like it was going to jump out of his chest. He turned to look at Charlie, his look guilty.

"Charlie, I'm -"

"I understand, Alex." He said warmly. Alex grinned, tears forming in his eyes as he gave him one last hug before, whispering another 'thank you' before running out of the room. It was raining outside, but Alex didn't even notice it, running carelessly in the pouring rain. He looked at his arm as he ran, having so many questions, but all of them muddled by the happiness and lightness in his chest.

_Zachary Dempsey_

* * *

Zach was sitting in the living room couch with his mother as she watched some documentary about World War II. Zach wasn't really paying attention, as he was studying _An Introduction and Advanced Guide to Marine Biology_. As it turns out, Zach was hardly in the introduction phase, which kind of shattered his confidence, but at the same time, excited him about all the things he had to learn.

As he was reading it, his thoughts wandered to Alex again, the boy who gave him the book. He opened up his phone, getting an irrational need to check the date and time all of a sudden. _21:20 Wednesday, July 17th, 2018._ He sighed, a sudden wave of depression overcoming him. He closed the book, placing it next to him on the coach and sighed. _Why does it still hurt so much?_

Right as those thoughts crossed his mind, there was thunder outside, followed immediately by a sudden drizzle. Right then, he felt a sudden surge of pain concentrated in his left wrist. It was a burning sensation, as if someone was drawing lines with a very warm knife. 

"Ah!" He yelled out, clutching onto his left wrist. His mother turned to look at him with a concerned expression on her face. She got up from the coach, looking at him wearily as she noticed him holding onto his wrist.

"It seems the time has come, Zachary." She said, she almost seemed content. Emphasis on almost. The sharp pain on his left wrist started subsiding no sooner than it had appeared. Then Zach felt nothing but a tightness in his chest, accompanied by an intoxicating curiosity. Deep down he didn't want to see the name, because he still wanted it to be Alex Standall. But he knew he was going to have to look eventually, and he needed to know who it was, so he did.

He just stared at it, his jaw dropped. He blinked in disbelief, staring at it as if he was crazy and it actually wasn't there. Zach just gazed at it, not a single word leaving his mouth for a good while, his thoughts running wild inside his head.

"Well?" His mother pushed, trying to make out the name from the couch to the side of his own. Zach's mouth opened and closed a few times, not believing the words as they tried to leave his mouth, before finally looking at his mother.

"A-Alexandar Standall." He said, his face puzzled and terrified at the same time, but also hopeful. His mother just nodded blankly.

"Huh. Not bad, can't say I'm surprised I guess. Though I was hoping for someone a little... wealthier, I can still work with this." She said, holding her thumb and index finger to her chin, speaking as if it was her soulmate they were discussing.

"N-No mom you don't understand. There's gotta be some sort of mistake, I mean - It can't be Alex... His 18th birthday was four months ago remember?" Zach explained, panicking. Karen's face dropped then, looking suddenly uncomfortable. Her eyes mat her son's and she looked sad. Zach eyed her suspiciously then. "Mom, what aren't you telling me?" on

"Zachary... There's no easy way of saying this." She started, looking away a few times but still keeping his gaze on Zach, determined to look at him. "When you - In December of 2000, we opened our front door to find a baby nestled in a bunch of blankets on the porch. So we took him in, while the authorities conducted an investigation to find out who the baby belonged to. They never did-"

"Mom, what are you saying?" Zach asked, his eyes starting to tear up, knowing full well what she was saying.

"I didn't give birth to you Zachary. We just assumed March 2nd as your birthday based on a doctor's estimates. You have to understand we were going to tell you-"

"So why didn't you!" Zach yelled out.

"You were so happy, and so young. You weren't ready to know. By the time you were, your father... well, you know. And I guess I just wanted to hold on to the family we always were. In an ideal environment, you would never have needed to know."

"No... No this can't be real. Is this some sort of a joke?" Zach said, frustrated.

"This is why we didn't tell you. Nothing has to change Zachary. Your father invested thousands of dollars to find your real family and we found nothing. There was no need for you to know, until there just was. But you will always be my son, no matter what" Karen said with a smile. Zach nodded hesitantly, looking at his wrist with amazement and relief.

"We'll talk about this later. T-There's something I have to do." Zach said, urgently bolting towards the door.

"Zachary! Where do you think you're going in this rain?" But Zach didn't listen and just put on his shoes with impressive speed. Karen shook her head. "At least grab your jacket!" Zach didn't respond again, but seemed to obey as he grabbed his varsity jacket from the coat rack before opening the door and walking out.

The moment he exited the gateway that led to their house yard and stepped on the sidewalk, he looked to his right and was surprised to see a familiar figure running up the sidewalk, stopping to a halt when he saw him.

"A-Alex? God what are you doing running all the way to here in the rain?" Zach asked as he ran up to him. Zach suddenly got the strangest sense of déjà vu as he reached Alex.

"Can ask you the same thing Dempsey." Alex replied sarcastically, yet his face dead serious. His hair was wet and slick, glued to his forehead and his shirt and jeans soaking. Zach had no doubt he looked almost the same. He gulped, pulling back the left sleeve of his jacket to reveal the tattoo. Alex stared at it, a hopeless smile on his face as he slightly raised his right hand, showing Zach the tattoo with his name on it. Zach's lips widened to a goofy grin, before noticing how Alex started to shiver.

He took off his jacket and raised it over Alex's head, placing it softly around his shoulder. He chuckled, taking in how enormous it looked on the smaller boy. The sleeves of the jacket were hanging free, their movements retired to the will of the wind.

They looked at each other, his piercing blue eyes meeting his own dark brown orbs, both of their wrists exposed as rain poured all around them. Alex held out both of his hands then, both of his palms exposed to catch the drops of rain, in an open invitation for him to lace their fingers together. Zach did, pulling the other boy closer in the process, looking at their intertwined hands in bewilderment for just a brief moment, before their eyes met again. It felt like something right out of a romance movie. Alex gave him a bright, joyful smile and he couldn't help but do the same before he leaned in slightly. He was met halfway because he didn't bend his neck nearly as much as he should have, feeling another pair of lips brush against his own. He smiled into the kiss, knowing that the other boy was on his toes so he could reach him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!  
> Let me know what you think! Any feedback is greatly appreciated

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!  
> Any feedback is greatly appreciated


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